The Return Of Lonely Planet Cycling Guides

In 2006, my wife and I bicycled through six Southeast Asian nations over three months. During the first half of the journey, one resource we turned to was Lonely Planet’s Cycling Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. With detailed route information, including km-by-km directions, elevation charts, and cycle-centric destination info, this book was handy to say the least.

However, at three years old, it was already beginning to show signs of outdated-ness in a region where things change rapidly and sometimes unexpectedly. From my research, the book appeared to be a first and only edition, and given the fact that I wasn’t seeing any other LP cycling guides on the new release shelves, I figured the wave had passed.

Not so, says NYT’s In Transit blog. Apparently, after noticing that some of its old bike guides were fetching ridiculous sums on eBay, Lonely Planet made the call to revisit the series. New two-wheeled guides to Great Britain, France, and Italy are out now, with Australia and New Zealand coming soon.

Here’s to hoping the LP cycling writers return to Asia as well. Who knows — that might be all the inspiration I need to head back to Vietnam’s Highway 1.